Physical Abuse of Elders

Journal Entry Part 1

Elder abuse involves mistreatment of the older people by the caregivers.  Over the recent period, the number of older people who have become victims of elder abuse has been on the rise. The physical abuse selected in this paper is physical abuses. For example, the majority of the older people in Baldwin County who have been left under the hands of caregivers have become victims of Physical abuse. They have been harassed and abused physically by those who are supposed to take care of them.  According to statistical facts from the WHO 1 out of 6 elderly individuals who are 60 years and above have experienced some form of physical abuse in the community during the past periods (World Health Organisation, 2018). Some of the most common contexts of elder abuse have been caregiving facility and nursing homes. The strategy for identifying physical abuse is physical screening whereby one may identify scars and unexplained burns, bruises, and burns. Physical screening may involve observing the behaviour of the patient and detect unusual physical injuries in their body.  For example, it might be possible to identify elder patients who have been left under the caregiver having discomfort in walking sitting (Shinan-Altman, & Cohen, 2009). If such is detected one may go a step further and conduct a physical screening. Once, the bruises or physical injuries have been identified the patient may be interviewed and assisted to get justice.  Based on the Baldwin County laws whenever physical abuse of elders has identified, an elder law attorney may be consulted. The attorney may file a case on behalf of the victim and seek justice and compensation to be done to the victim (Lachs, & Pillemer, 2015).

The offender may be punished through imprisonment or demanded to pay some damages which may be used to compensate the plaintiff for the injuries and emotional harm that the victim has sustained.  Some of the resources in the community in Baldwin County that helps victims of physical abuse include health service and counselling facility, they have agencies that elder people can use to request support. For example, the Baldwin Center for elder abuse is an agency that one can call to get assistance (Castle, Ferguson-Rome, & Teresi, 2015). As the advanced practice nurse, I can utilize the resources discussed to assist the elder who has been abused in the clinical setting. For example, I can call relevant agencies to provide counselling to the patient and also look for elder Attorney to pursue the victim case in the court of law.

Journal Entry Part 2

The number of elderly persons in the U.S has increased due to a rise in life expectancy. However, Cultural changes have significant influence interdependency within a family. Increase in modernization and technological advancement has made the majority of the people to move to major towns to pursue employment opportunities and hence, living behind the elder members of the society elder. The elder people are left under the hand of caregivers who do not mind much about their welfare. In my community, young people were taught how to respect the elders and to take care of them.  However, increased in modernization has made young people avoid their traditional role and hence exposing an elder person to physical, mental and emotional abuse by the caregivers.  Culture can influence the way to implement resources for preventing abuse by teaching the young generation values and principles of respecting the elders.